Hi everyone! I am in the process of planning my wedding and I have food allergies - though many friends, family and relatives from both my side and my fiance's side, do not have food allergies. Has anyone had adult food allergies and planned a large celebration such as a wedding? Any tips for working with caterers/banquet halls to ensure allergy safe meals are served? I feel bad serving all my guests, allergy safe meals because of my allergies, but is that the safest route to go? Or to ensure that at least I can have an allergy-safe meal and not stress over having a reaction on the biggest and happiest day of my life?

Tips and suggestions are welcome! Also, I am from Chicago and the wedding will be in Chicago, so if anyone is familiar with vendors who accommodate allergic individuals in the Chicagoland area, I'd appreciate their names!

Personally, I say make the wedding meal 100% safe for you - ALL of it. It is your day and you should not have to worry about a reaction. You live every day without your allergens and your loved ones can do the same for your wedding day.

If they don't want to then they are clearly not your true loved ones.

My daughter hopefully won't get married for at least 10 years but I would absolutely help her plan a safe meal. It is so rare for her to eat away from home and be able to eat everything that I think your wedding day is definitely a day you deserve that!

As for safe caterers or locations I would recommend contacting your local allergy support group and ask for assistance. From a quick google search I found a list by state but no idea if it is current: http://www.allergymoms.com/uploads/news ... roups.html Scroll down to find Illinois.

_________________me: allergic to crustaceans plus environmental
teenager: allergic to hazelnuts, some other foods and environmental

I agree it has to be 100% safe for you. But if the venue is serving more than 1 event that night, there might be risk in the kitchen. My sister just got married, and while the kitchen was completely willing to accommodate his allergies, we did not want to run the risk (he has ana to milk & nuts, milk being the worst.) It was her day, and we wanted no drama. So we got the kitchen to agree to let us bring in our own meal for him, similar to what was being served, and we would plate it ourselves at the table. We had a cooler discreetly under the table. No one even noticed. It went very well!

So if they don't want to prepare all the meals free of all your allergens, I'm sure you could arrange a similar scenario. I know my ds is very nervous trusting anyone else as well. You won't want to spend the reception wondering if any symptoms are starting to appear so if you brought your own meal that fear is eliminated!

Congratulations! Planning a wedding can be stressful enough without worrying about reacting!

I would suggest you forgo the long line up of greeting at the start of the reception. You don't want to react to anything on the hands or lips of the well wishers. If you take time between the wedding and the reception for pictures, who knows what your guests might snack on!

Luckily, you will most likely be seated at the head table during the meal and you can ensure that the entire head table be served a safe meal. You don't want to react to your husband on your wedding night!

There are many caterers and restaurants that are allergy aware these days so finding one for your wedding should not be difficult. As walooet posted, contact a local support group and inqure with them.

Good luck. I hope you are in a place in this country where a kitchen can do that for you. Unfortunately, I couldn't find such a place here for my FI and I don't want family to work so hard on that day. So now we are eloping.

_________________Moi: Pineapples, Turkey and Asthma.
Fiance: Ana. to Dairy, Eggs, Peanuts/Nuts and Horse. Also has asthma.

Thanks everyone for the valuable insights on how to manage allergies and hosting a large celebration for friends and family. I am thankful my finace is my best advocate for my food allergies. But I truly appreciate the insights in so far as finding the right balance between ensuring I have a safe meal and ensuring friends and family can celebrate the occasion with us. I will keep you all posted how it turns out! The wedding isn't until Fall 2013, so we have plenty of time to find a venue that can accommodate my allergies.

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